Shelved by the shareholders

WHEN Sir Ian Prosser announced that he would not take up the post of deputy chairman at J Sainsbury, the struggling supermarket group, a wave of surprise swept through City trading rooms.

Sainsbury shareholders had been muttering about the choice of Prosser, but there was little hope that they would be able to do anything about it. The Sainsbury family holds almost 40% of the shares and it seemed content with the new man. But to everyone’s surprise, and Sainsbury’s and Prosser’s credit, action was taken to appease investors.

William Claxton-Smith of Insight Investment, a Sainsbury shareholder, said: “We don’t want to be triumphalist about it. But when mistakes are made, sorting them out quickly is the right thing to do.”

However, the move was a humiliating climbdown for the company and it now falls to Lord Levene, who has moved up to become the senior nonexecutive director, to pick